Louis Henri Meurant

(17*-18*) Actor, playwright and journalist.

An activist for freedom of the press.

As performer and playwright

In his youth an actor for C.E Boniface, and a friend of Frederick Rex, . Possibly a co-author of Kaatje Kekkelbek?? Author of the well-known and influential Zamenspraak tusschen Klaas Waarzegger en Jan Twijfelaar (1860/1?*). * According to Ludwig Binge (1969) the character of the crusty Calvinist "Klaas Waarzegger" became an influential model for later playwrights such as Melt Brink, C.J. Langenhoven, D.C. Postma and the "coloured" characters of later writers.

As cultural historian

Author of the invaluable source on 19th century theatre and other cultural matters, Sixty years ago, or, Reminiscences of the struggle for the freedom of the press in South Africa and the establishment of the first newspaper in the Eastern Province Cape Town, 1885.

[TH]

Sources

Binge, 1969

Bosman, 1928:pp. 261-268, 282-282, 295-297, 372, 547.

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